Tag Archives: Washington College of Law

Happy New Year!

I’m back!

It’s been a few months since my last post. I got busy with school and work, and didn’t feel like I had anything to say. Then, the longer I waited, the more it felt like I needed to have something important to say. It’s the same idea behind Open That Bottle Night. (More on OTBN later.)

Buttons on his first day here

Since I’m going to try to post more frequently, even if they are brief posts, some quick updates:

I got a new cat: Buttons. He’s about 3 and one of the sweetest, 15-pound cats I know. Alex isn’t happy with him, even though she was very lonely since Katie died.

I finished my first semester of law school. Not all of our grades are in, even though the exam was Dec 7th, and we start the next semester in a week, but so far, I did pretty well. And there was only one point where I really questioned the decision.

I’m still working out with the trainer twice a week. I guess it’s showing. For New Year’s Eve, I went to a coworker’s party. I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and he was impressed that my arms and shoulder have gotten bigger. I guess it doesn’t show under my dress shirts.

2012 is going to be a great year! I’ve made a few New Year’s resolutions, more on these with time.

I’m starting to use Twitter, more. Thanks to the app Flipboard, I’m finding it possible to keep up.

I survived Hurricane Irene with no problems. We had lots of rain, and some wind. I spent most of Saturday studying, then took a break to watch a movie and drink some wine before going to bed. By the time I got up on Sunday, the rain had stopped, and by afternoon, it was clue skies and sunshine. My lights flickered twice, but the power never went out. There are a few trees down in the neighborhood, but mostly just small branches and leaves.

The earthquake was much scarier.

Washington College of Law is still without power, so there’s a chance my classes will be canceled this evening. I suspect they will have power by then. I’m also not sure there’s any benefit to missing class, as I assume we’ll have to make it up. I already have an extra class Thursday from 8-10 this week.

It’s going to be my first week with full-time work and class. That was my justification for skipping the gym and sleeping in until 6 a.m.

We’ve had two days of orientation activities so far. The first day was a basic introduction from the Dean and some faculty, followed by a part-time student reception. I’ve met several of my classmates so far, and even remember some of their names when I’ve run into them, again. Last night’s orientation activity was an introduction to the Legal Rhetoric program, including introductions to the writing we’ll be doing this semester as well as the research. Washington College of Law is known for turning out graduates with very strong research and writing skills.

We’ve heard Legal Rhetoric is going to be tough, and based on the syllabus, they were right. In addition to readings for class each week, there are frequent writing assignments, which look like they’re going to take a significant amount of time. Since my class is Monday night, that means the writing assignments have to be done by the weekend. Then there are additional sessions thrown in to teach us how to do citations (using the infamous Blue Book) and how to do legal research. I try to make myself feel better by trying to convince myself that this course will help me at work, when we need to do legal research and will improve the persuasiveness of my writing.

Tonight is the Dean’s BBQ, and tomorrow, we have a “practice lecture” which includes pre-class readings. Guess I know what I’ll be doing tonight.

I haven’t started reading. I should have. I have 25 pages for Contracts, about 50 for Legal Rhetoric, and six cases or so for Torts (I haven’t looked how many pages that is, yet.) due for Monday and Tuesday. And then more due for Wednesday and Thursday. I’ve been putting off the reading because once I get started, I’m in, and there’s no turning back. Before I get started, I’m trying to get everything else in order, because I think it’s all going to get pushed to the side and I will be completely preoccupied by work and school. So far, I’ve:

Cleaned and tried to organize/de-clutter the kitchen, dining room and living room.

Almost figured out where the university pool is, and printed the recreational swim schedule.

Cleaned my big coffee pot

Created my LexisNexis and Westlaw accounts

I took the mornings off work this coming week, so I can get used to reading and preparing for school. I was going to take the entire week off, but then realized that I’d start the 2nd week of classes while having to catch up from a week and a half out of the office. (I also took last three days off this week, which is why I’m blogging on a Friday morning.)

So they posted our Fall semester class schedule today, while I was doing my hour-long commute home. Within minutes, the 1L’s (1st-year Law student) Facebook page was buzzing. I immediately logged on and got to my schedule, and …

It wasn’t that helpful. I have Contracts and Torts (which I knew) and I have class Monday through Thursday from 6-8 pm, which was expected. I also have Legal Rhetoric (Legal Writing), but that schedule is TBD. WTF? That’s the class I’m worried about. My understanding is that class will be from 8-10 pm one of the nights, but I seem to recall a rumor that we could end up with a Friday 6pm-8pm class. That would suck!

We’re supposed to be able to link directly from our schedule to the Washington College of Law bookstore and buy our books online. But, that link didn’t work. I briefly did some searching and it looks like I’m going to need at least 4 books for those two classes, but don’t know what I’ll need for Legal Rhetoric. Until they decide what session I’m in, I won’t know the instructor and what they use.

So, the schedule is posted, but didn’t really answer the questions I still had. Oh well. I guess that information will come out in a few days.

But, it is exciting that the start of school is getting closer. I’ll soon be able to buy my books, will have my reading lists, and will soon be a real law student.